Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-terminal connector composed of a male and a female housings provided with a plurality of female terminals and male terminals respectively therein to be connected to or disconnected from each other by a considerably small force owing to a cam mechanism adopted therein.
A hither-to-known multi-terminal connector of this type is already disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,771, which comprises a first housing containing a pair of longitudinally aligned slots, a second housing containing a cam track, and a slider provided with a cam follower protruding from the lower surface thereof for moving along the cam track through the above aligned slots.
The above slider is formed in an U shape composed of a web and a pair of arms extending therefrom in parallel, the length of the both arms being equal to the distance between the edge walls of the flange formating a hood in the first housing for accomodating the second housing, wherein the above cam follower is projecting inwardly of the arms.
Consequently, for engaging the first housing with the second one by utilization of the above cam mechanism, the slider must be inserted at right angles to the engaging direction, that is, an ample space at least wider than the length of the slider itself is required at one side of the connector as it must be inserted therefrom, thus the space for its installation cannot securely be obtained in a limited space such as inside the instrument panel of a car, its operability thus is not sufficiently high.
Also as the rotational moment is generated due to the distance between the web for enforcing the slider to slide and the cam follower for moving along the cam track, a relatively large force is required for engagement or separation of the two housings. Besides, although a pair of aligned guide slots are arranged for preventing the slider from rotating, the engaging force is likely to be applied bias towards one side to cause ricketiness due to the fact that those two cam tracks are inclined at same degree.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a multi-terminal connector of the structure in which easy engagement or separation can be performed even in a limited narrow space, yet with a relatively small force.
It is also another object of the present inevention to provide a multi-terminal connector of the structure in which the state of the engagement between the male and female housings can be easily confirmed, with the function that they are also locked in a perfectly engaged state so as to be attached to the wall of a panel, an electric connection box and so on.